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AccuTel System Helps AAA Clubs Reduce Time To Fill Call Center Positions

30 August 1999

AlignMark's AccuTel(R) System Helps AAA Clubs Reduce Time To Fill Call Center Positions By Up To 40 Percent

     Results Have Dramatically Improved AAA's Call Center Hiring Process

    CHICAGO, Aug. 30 -- AlignMark, a division of Thomson
Learning, announced today that use of its AccuTel(R) system at a number of AAA
clubs around the country has significantly improved the organization's ability
to identify quality applicants for emergency road service call centers.
AccuTel is a telephone-based sourcing and selection tool that utilizes
interactive voice response (IVR) technology to screen potential job
applicants. The product is often used in conjunction with AccuVision(R), a
video-based job simulation system used to identify a candidate's ability to
handle on the job situations.
    According to one AAA club that has been using AccuTel(R) for over 18
months, managers tripled the number of job ad respondents -- thus enabling
them to make better hiring decisions. In addition to having identified quality
candidates, managers noted that the time to fill positions was decreased by as
much as forty percent (40%) with the use of AccuTel(R).
    "We have saved a tremendous amount of time using AccuTel(R) and
AccuVision(R)," said Carrie Farrell, Employment Services Supervisor,
California State Automobile Association.  "The call volume has tripled -- from
an average of 50 to over 150 per ad -- and we are filling more positions
faster than ever before."
    AccuTel(R) is currently being used at numerous AAA clubs throughout the
country. AAA, which prides itself in being the premier automotive services
provider in the country, considers the selection of high performing call
center personnel a quality management priority.
    "AccuTel(R) has been instrumental in assisting our clubs to attract higher
quality candidates which is helping us to realize our goal of creating world
class call centers," said Patricia Kleinfeldt, Director of Quality & Education
Services for AAA National.
    AAA's AccuTel(R) system has recently been upgraded to include name
transcription; automatic callback to remind the candidate of their scheduled
interview time; self-scheduling and Web-scheduling features.
    "Our philosophy in applying a systems approach to staffing and managing
call center personnel is the primary reason AAA clubs are looking to us to
meet their quality staffing needs," said Greg Leonard, account manager with
AlignMark.  "By first establishing the competency model or 'standard' for
excellent performers, we are able to assist our clients in identifying tools
or assessment instruments that can be used in the sourcing and selection
processes.  The tools are administered to prospective new hires to identify
whether or not an individual possesses the skills and abilities to be
successful in a job."
    AccuTel(R), Behavioral Interviewing, AccuVision(R), and Knowledge
Assessment System(R) have proven effective in helping AlignMark clients
source, select, train and develop customer service and call center personnel.
Clients using the process have reported significant reductions in the time to
fill positions and turnover rates, as well as a dramatic increase in
satisfaction levels reflected in customer surveys.
    Founded in 1902 as the American Automobile Association, AAA is a
not-for-profit federation of 90 clubs providing 42 million members in the
United States and Canada with travel, financial, insurance and auto-related
services.
    Through related organizations, AlignMark -- a division of Thomson Learning
-- has been a leading provider of innovative human resource solutions for more
than 25 years to the nation's largest organizations. Thomson Learning is part
of The Thomson Corporation (Toronto: TOC; Montreal), a $6 billion
international company with more than 40,000 employees that is recognized as a
worldwide leader in the information publishing industry.  Headquartered near
Orlando, Florida, with facilities in Dallas, Denver and Oklahoma City,
AlignMark's clients span all industry sectors including financial
institutions, manufacturing, service and retail.